


I am lost

by flyingisabetterwordforfalling (FlyingFalling)



Category: Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Anxiety, Awkward Crush, Awkward Flirting, Dorks in Love, F/M, Female Character of Color, First Dates, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Getting to Know Each Other, Languages, Marius speaks German, Multilingual Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-04-09
Packaged: 2018-06-01 05:36:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6502951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlyingFalling/pseuds/flyingisabetterwordforfalling
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The biggest problem of his nervousness, was him all of a sudden thinking in a mixture of every language he spoke, without him being able to distinguish between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I am lost

Combeferre had recommended him different kinds of tea, Joly and Jehan told him about breathing exercises and yoga techniques. But hardly anything actually helped in his attempts to soothe his nervousness.  
As much as Marius tried, it seemed to almost every time end with him starting to tremble and his heart beating faster, sometimes he even believed to suddenly suffer from breathlessness. 

Not even the good kind, such as in the presence of Cosette. The thought of her alone made him smile. A few weeks ago she had changed one of her major subjects, as she had entered the classroom he had quite literally fallen for her. Out of his chair and head over heels in love. Her smile when she had introduced herself to the class had put him under a charm the moment he saw it for the first time. 

"Marius." His friend and roommate brought him out of his dream world and back down to earth "Just ask her if she wants to go out with you."

Courfeyrac laughed when Marius grimaced and shook his head vehemently.

"Come on, pal, what could go wrong?"

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Everything could go wrong.

A few days later Marius had gathered all his courage, his bottle of tea in his backpack, had once more taken a deep breath and walked over to Cosette's seat. The young woman was busy unpacking her bag and got slightly startled when he suddenly appeared in front of her desk.

"Marius ... Pontmercy, right? We have not talked to each other directely yet." She said, in a sweet tone and held out her hand in greeting. Marius panicked, his well thought out introduction forgotten.  
He could not even think straight. The biggest problem of his nervousness, was him all of a sudden thinking in a mixture of every language he spoke, without him being able to distinguish between them.

"Ri-richtig,meinNameistMariusPontmercy." He said, literally in a single word.

Cosette inclined her head slightly, frowning.

"And mine's Cosette. -You speak German? ... How beautiful. A very beautiful language. Unfortunately, I do not understand it."

Marius wanted to say so much to apologize for switching between languages all the time, especially when he was afraid of something or nervous, like he was now. He wanted to tell her how pretty she was, how much he wanted to get to know her better and how much he wanted to ask her out.

What came out was only stuttering, again and without another word he turned to go, tried to hide his embarrassment and also his now red face. 

"I'm sorry, Marius. I did not intend to make fun of you, it is a truly beautiful language. Would you maybe... like to have a coffee with me, and tell me more about it?"

She smiled at him warmly as he nodded almost too eagerly and seemed to slightly blush herself. Still, he was not actually sure as he had turned around the moment she finished talking.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Later Marius did not even know how he had managed to survive their coffee date.

A few minutes after his arrival, he had in fact poured his coffee on his lap, Cosette had jumped up and promptly fell into a tirade of excuses, trying to help him mop the coffee out of his jeans. Both of them blushed as she touched his leg a little too long. Who had knocked over the cup, he could not even tell afterwards.

Waiting for the coffee stain so dry, he played with his now embarrassingly only half-filled coffee cup and pushed it a little back and forth with one hand. He had insisted that they remained seated, although he supposed to have had suffered a slight burn, however swore not to tell her.  
Cosette played a bit with her dreadlocks and Marius smiled sheepishly as he reached for her hand. 

"Watch out!" Cosette warned, when he already pulled away.

He had not considered the candle between them on the table, now had also burned his hand a little. Cosette jumped up before he could assure her that he was fine. She stood beside his chair and reached for his hand before she adjusted her glasses and examined the small burn.

With furrowed brows she lightly touched the back of his hand and Marius blushed even more when she finally raised his hand to her lips, kissing it gently.

"Better now?" She asked with a smile, and now seemed to be a little shy, her other hand played with her hair, a nervous habit Marius assumed, still he could only look at her, admiringly. He could not understand why or how he deserved that this beautiful young woman paid him any attention at all. He adored her already, the happy shine in her dark eyes, they were as beautiful as every other little thing of her, even more so her now almost coy smile.

"Duhättestnicht... Thanks." He finally managed to say and she smiled at him, finally sat down again and reached for his hand. Without another accident.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

A few weeks later he stood with a bouquet on her doorstep. A few days ago Marius had met Cosette's father, had been introduced to him as one of her classmates. They were currently working on a school project and spent every free minute together. What they would have done without the project anyway. The next time he saw her father he wanted to meet him as not just her classmate.

And now Marius had finally gone past his fear and decided he wanted to actually ask the question he had meant to ask the moment he saw her shy smile, her playing with her hair and altogether this beautiful young woman for the first time. But as soon as she opened the door, her face framed by her locks and also the seemingly rapt smile on her lips, she left him breathless once more. For once she did not wear her glasses and her eyes looked directely at him, in a way she solely looked at him, almost as if she knew every single thought inside his mind.

"Marius." She greeted him warmly, as if he were her personal sunshine and not the other way round.

"Hello Cosette," he took a deep breath, trying to remember his question,"WillstdumeineFreundinsein?"

"Oh, Marius." She grinned and took the bouquet out of his hands, bent slightly down to him and kissed his nose. "You speak German, so it must be something important. And because you brought me flowers, even my favourite ones I guess I know what you just asked me. And yes, yes of course I want to be your girlfriend.”

Marius smiled as she wrapped her arms around him -as much as she was able with the bouquet still in her hands and hugged back.

She understood him, even when she did not.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I used a quote of their epic love song to name this, in my opinion it's the one quote describing Marius perfectly. In a good way, and I like him for that. -I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I did writing. :) 
> 
> Translations:
> 
> Ri-richtig,meinNameistMariusPontmercy. - Richtig, mein Name ist Marius Pontmercy. (Right, my name is Marius Pontmercy.)
> 
> Duhättestnicht... - Du hättest nicht... (You shouldn't have...)
> 
> WillstdumeineFreundinsein? - Willst du meine Freundin sein? (Do you want to be my girlfriend?)


End file.
